


Spirits in My Head (and they won't go)

by Arowen12



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Anxiety, Gen, Miles sees Ghosts, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-15 17:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17533424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arowen12/pseuds/Arowen12
Summary: In which Miles can see ghosts. It changes everything and nothing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, we are here with another Spiderverse fic! This one is kind of inspired by those posts about Peter (dead) and Aaron mentoring Miles, and it spiralled from there. I hope you all enjoy, read on!
> 
>  
> 
> Into the Spiderverse is the property of Marvel and Sony

X

Miles has always been able to see them. They hover in corners of the room, besides the tv, on the park bench. There’s something about them that isn’t quite solid like you could blow air towards them and they would float off, they’re also dull, almost monochrome (and sometimes they’re very not monochrome) and maybe slightly transparent. Miles doesn’t realise what he is seeing for a long time, he thinks he’s always seen them, but he doesn’t understand for a long time.

One night he’s lying in bed, his mom is sitting beside him smoothing her fingers through his hair humming something soft and old, it makes Miles want to dance, and it makes him want to cry. In the corner of the room is a man, he is old and wears a suit, he looks cold. The ghost notices Miles’ gaze and smiles, it transforms the man, it is warm the kind that screams home and brings with it that kind of contentment after a long day.

His mom stares at the corner and her brow rises, she is silent for a long moment, her hand drifts to cover her mouth and her gaze flickers towards the door, towards his dad sitting at the table pouring over a report.

“You see them to huh baby?”

She says, and the words are sad and kind and bundled all together in the rhythm of her hand carding through his hair. Miles nods and she sighs, it a motion that curls through her whole body, she seems to slump into herself.

That night Miles listens to a story about a man who took care of the dead, he was given a curse or a blessing. His mom looks into his eyes, places her hands on his jaw and in the warmth of the apartment, everything is heavy. She says, “You make the best you can out of this Miles. These spirits, ghosts, some choose to stay behind, some can’t move on. But they still care for the living, don’t ignore them even if it hurts.”

After she tucks him into bed, turns out the light, Miles wonders how his mom uses this gift. Does she speak to the recently deceased to find out how they died? Miles can’t even imagine how many ghosts must float around a hospital (later his dad will be confused why Miles refuses to enter the building, his mom will only smile in understanding).

He doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, but Miles thinks if he can help people, that wouldn’t be so bad.

X

Miles misses the neighbourhood where all the kids knew him, sure he was the ‘weird’ kid, but they respected him. He was the one who told Sam that his grandmother was proud of him, or Lola that her uncle was sorry. At his old school, people believed him when he says there’s an accident, they don’t question how he knows, they accept it.

But Visions Academy (or whatever) is apathetic, it’s lonely. He struggles to go from class to class in a world where no one will talk to him but the dead and the teachers stare at him with an expectation he can feel, like a physical weight pulling him down, down towards the ground.

Then there are the ghosts. At his old school, there is a little girl who waves to him every morning, she’s innocent, doesn’t even realise what’s happened. At Visions there’s a kid who committed suicide in his room, he stares at Miles with understanding, and it hurts how much the ghost understands. His roommate doesn’t even notice the one-sided conversations he has with the spirit.

It all shovels it’s way through Miles' brain, the test marked a hundred when it should be zero, the essay, the weight of his dad’s expectations. Part of Miles wants to go home, to his mom, listen to her talk about their family, about the ghosts and how they’ve saved people. But he can’t.

Miles goes to his uncle’s.

On the subway, a spirit disentangles itself from a faded red seat, she’s wearing a dress, all faded red, she’s pretty and Miles wonders how she died. The spirit stares at him for a long moment as they stop at a station and then continue.

Eventually, she holds a hand out, there is a piece of paper with an address scrawled on it, there’s a crude drawing of what Miles thinks is flowers. He nods, catches her eye and nods. The location probably has something she forgot, that or her dead body (that had been one time too many). She smiles, a pretty expression and her mouth opens and shapes the words, “Thank you, be careful tonight.”

Most of the spirits don’t speak aloud, it requires a lot of energy. But that’s okay Miles had gotten good at reading lips. The warning sends a shiver down his spine, curls goose bumps on his skin in the climate-controlled air of the subway. He nods that’s all Miles can do and the spirit drifts away, the train moves but she remains still, staring at him with sad eyes. Usually, they aren’t so cryptic, it doesn’t bode well.

The frisson of unease melts away in the warmth of his uncle, the feel of his apartment that always uncurls something from Miles’ chest, lets it all loose. Aaron knows he sees stuff, but he’s never really pried, they joke about it. His mumbo jumbo or whatever. Miles doesn’t mention the girl on the subway, instead, he feels the anxiety over his essay flare up.

He should return to school. The offer is tantalizing, weighty with something Miles can’t define but can certainly feel. They head into the underground and Miles eyes the wispy shrouds of ghosts who can’t form coherent shapes as they enter the tunnel.

The space is glorious, a wall stretched out before him untouched and Miles' heart leaps out of his chest, taking with it all the worry and fear of the past week. He loses himself in the motion, in the art, the hiss of the spray can and the chemical smell that fills the air.

It’s when Miles stands back that he notices the spirits. They’re misshapen, chests caved in and strangely flat heads, they press close to the walls and watch him, watch him with eyes that are yearning emptiness, like a black hole.

Then the spider bites him. It hurts, a stinging sort of pain that is brief as Miles flicks the spider away. The spirits around his morph, they grow and shake and grow till theyère filling the room staring at him and casting judgement. Miles turns and runs when his uncle calls his name.

X

Miles is a mess of confusion and anxiety, his hands are shaking, his thoughts are too loud (scratch that everything is too loud), his heart has abandoned his chest, and there’s a shrill screaming going on at the back of his mind. The room is a flashing heap of light and sound, it feels like too much and Miles is glued to the unstable scaffold as Spiderman(!) swings through the air with casual ease, a grace and fluidity that is somewhat reassuring.

Then it all goes wrong. Miles coughs away the dust, he tries to push away everything that’s crowding him and scampers towards Spiderman. There’re holes in the guy’s mask and Peter can see one tired blue eye, his breathing is heavy the kind that indicates broken ribs (why does he have to know what that sounds like). Around Spiderman grey wisps taunt the air and Miles panics and internally screams because only those who are literally hanging out on Death’s door (or porch step or whatever) have that kind of aura.

The words wash over him like he’s drowning, and he takes the goober and looks into those tired (so very exhausted) eyes, they both already know. Miles runs and hides in the rubble like the coward he is, and he’s frozen struck with a fear so overwhelming he can’t breathe as this monster of a man walks out of the darkness. Miles can feel the man’s presence like a viscous liquid full of malice and desperation, it stinks.

It happens so quickly, and Miles has to muffle his own scream into his palm, it lodges in his throat and his tears are brimming and he needs to get out of there, and he isn’t safe, and oh god he should have listened to that warning. Something clatters and Miles bolts, he runs like always does, and Spiderman his chest caving in, the way the grey covered his body like a shroud, the sound, oh god the sound. It echoes in his mind.

There’s something behind him and Miles feels like the literal embodiment of anxiety as he runs through the subway, he sticks to things at inopportune moments and can’t unstick himself. It blurs and swells like a tide and Miles only really breathes again when he is home and in his mom’s arms. He can’t help the shuddering, the cold that won’t go away like that time he stood in a spirit for a few minutes, and he’s sobbing and a mess.

His mom runs a gentle hand through his hair hums that song that’s quiet and loud and full of contradictions. Slowly, ever so slowly Miles' chest stops heaving (His chest stops heaving) and he feels a mixture of nauseous and dizzy all at once. His dad carries him to bed, like when he was a small child, tucks him against his chest and whispers comfort as Miles feels as if he’s falling out of his own mind terrified that King Pin will find him, that whatever was following him (The Prowler?) will climb through his window and kill him.

Wouldn’t it be funny if he haunted his mom like a ghost? No. But everything’s so desperate and twisted that Miles falls into the black pit of slumber between one frantic thought and the next regardless.

X

The wind whips around Miles this high, it feels like it could push him off the building, could pull his feelings out of his head and carry them far, far away. This building is shorter than the one next to it, but height, any height is disconcerting. But he needs to do this. Miles needs to learn how to control his powers, needs to save Brooklyn (and the rest of the world), needs to use the USB (Goober?) to shut down the thing.

He’s scared, he’s so, so very scared. Miles doesn’t know how to do anything, and as the world around him mourns Peter Parker he is saddled with the responsibility of stopping this. He can’t turn away, can’t back out, he’s the only one who can do this. But he’s so scared.

“Well, this is new.”

A voice, a familiar voice, states behind Miles and he turns, one hesitant slow motion because if he sees it then it will be real. Spiderman stands in the afternoon light, he is see-through almost completely transparent, and his suit is red, pale red and blue. He looks up at Miles and he raises a brow and Miles can’t help the way his breath hitches and the tremble building itself up through his body piece by piece.

Spiderman freezes for a moment but then he’s in front of Miles and he’s reassuring him a litany of words that do little to alleviate the panic attack and the feel of cold fingers on his shoulder. He gets his breath back eventually, with shaky tears and sobbing laughs that build and break like a damn, Spiderman stares at him with sad and stricken eyes.

In the sunlight, Miles gives Spiderman (call me Peter) his name and Peter comes to terms with the fact that he’s dead (I’m going to haunt you kid, that okay with you?). It’s a lot and Miles is tempted to climb down the stairs, to go home and bury himself. He can’t, he needs to try.

Peter appears hesitant for a moment but then those cold (so cold) fingers settle on his shoulder and in the sunlight he’s like an angel. He says, “The comics like to show me succeeding on the first try. But I didn’t Miles, I fell like four times, and let’s not forget the time I tried to deliver pizza. It’s okay to not be successful on the first try okay? You just got these powers, no one’s perfect that quickly, not even me. So, try, alright but then get back up. Because that’s what makes us Spiderman.”

It’s an inspiring pep talk, as far as pep talk goes, but afterwards, Peter looks even more transparent, like the talking took the wind out of his sails and Miles feels guilty, because he should help Peter say goodbye to his family, not make him waste his breathe on a kid.

He can do this. Miles takes a running start, Peter calls out something behind him, but Miles doesn’t hear it as he runs. He trips on his shoelace. The pavement beneath his spine hurts, but it’s not as unbearable as the crack of the broken goober. Peter is nowhere and Miles wonders if he’s abandoned him if he’s ashamed by Miles’ failure.

He gets back up, even if it takes a while.

X

“Now this is just depressing.”

Miles glances up sharply at the words and Peter’s there leaning on his own gravestone with a wry sort of look as if he can’t believe the Daily Bugle published something nice. Miles opens his mouth not sure what he wants to say when someone startles him.

Everything goes downhill from there, and Miles swears he can hear Peter’s laughing following him through the streets and all the way into his uncle’s apartment. The whole thing is a mess and it leaves Miles cold and shaking, everything tangled up and confused, he feels alone with no one to turn to and Peter’s in the room, staring at well the other Peter with a suspicious look and Miles feels like he doesn’t know what his life is anymore.

They end up in the diner, Peter (dead, RIPeter? Peter he’s going to call him Pete) is squished into the booth beside him staring at the alive him with varying degrees of suspicion and disgust. Miles glances away from the catastrophe happening in front of him and around the dinner, there’s a spirit in the booth across the room, he is wearing a fedora and has a case in front of him. Miles wonders who he is waiting for.

Miles needs help, actual physical help, not Pete telling him to try and unstick himself. But mostly, Miles can’t let Pete down and he has no idea what to do. He asks Peter B. who rambles off something about baby powder (Pete agrees with passion and a new-found respect for Peter B.) but that isn’t what he means. He needs to learn how to swing, how to climb walls, and whatever is going on with the electricity thing.

They take a bus. Miles wants to die, collapse in on himself and die, there’s an old lady’s ghost next to him and she’s talking about her cats, all fifteen of them. And Pete’s also talking, telling him about some of the villains of his world in-between strange metaphors that don’t make sense.

The place is full of ghosts, not the normal kind either, they’re twisted in weird ways that sends shivers up and down his spine, because if they look like that in death then there was some seriously bad stuff going on. Miles attempts to wait for all of a minute before he sees King Pin exit the car.

The fear and anxiety crackle through his mind and turn his stomach upside down. He can’t see another Spiderman die (and not just because the two of them combined would be terrifying). He can’t watch the light fade, hear the sickening crack, and do nothing. Miles can’t run away, so he runs forward.

Turning invisible is weird, it’s like getting sucked through one of those water slides, the ones that turn you upside down. Everything is a strange mix of grey and oversaturated bright hues that temporarily blind Miles, it’s like walking the line between life and death and the thought scares him until Peter B. taps his nose and he’s forced to memorize a password that is ten digits too long (he can’t even memorize ten elements on a good day).

A man in a lab coat breezes through a wall and stares at Miles for a long moment before he serenely tells him that the nice curly-haired lady? She’s a supervillain. Of course, she is. The warning comes a moment too late and Miles is vaguely and utterly terrified by Doc Oc as he grabs the monitor and darts out the doorway, Pete drifts beside him and tells him to drop the monitor. Done. Now what?

When Miles finally gets the hang of webbing through the trees, it’s freeing, it’s exhilarating, everything falls away until he can breathe again. Pete watches with a fond smile, and amidst the trees, he seems to drift between corporal form and wherever spirits go when they’re not inhabiting reality.

His spider-sense rings, but not in the blaring danger way, it’s more like a familiar ringtone and Pete sucks in a harsh breath as Gwanda (it’s Gwen) appears. She looks cool and calm but her eyes stare at Peter B. for one second and then don’t look at him again. Miles feels like he’s missing something.

The bus back into the city is better. There is no crazy old lady, but there is totally a man who is dressed like a Viking which is a bit unexpected. Speaking with Gwen is nice, it’s easy, it’s something Miles hadn’t known he was exactly missing.

X

Both Peters pause when Aunt May opens the door, she has a kind face and hugs Peter B. with warm words. Miles glances at Pete who nods once at him and dematerialises, he can kind of understand that.

Meeting the other spider-people (?) is a strange experience that quickly becomes a bad experience. He tries to get up, tries to get them all to listen, maybe do something other than carve that anxiety deeper. Peter B. tries to stop them, and he appreciates it he really does, just as much as Pete’s, “They’re being harsh because that’s how the world was to them.”

But he can’t handle it, the pressing disappointment on all sides like a wire against his throat. It’s easy to turn invisible then.

Miles doesn’t leave right away, he wants to call his parents, wants to go home and hide under the covers, eat some of his mom’s cooking, anything. Instead, he enters May’s kitchen, the old woman is stirring a cup of tea and there’s a man behind her with a kind smile and a hearty face. She looks up and smiles at him, it softens some of the hurt.

It all blurts out suddenly, how he saw Peter die, how he can see spirits, and how he’s not ready. She doesn’t judge him, her eyes water and her hand stills over her mouth on a few occasions but she listens, and Miles feels so much better as if the words have sunk all the worries out from the bottom of his feet.

Miles glances to Pete and repeats everything for Aunt May because she deserves the last words of her son. He leaves afterwards, the kitchen is quiet, and Miles feels a strange mix of light and heavy as he leaves.

X

The alleyway is full of a grey miasma that clouds around his uncle and Miles can’t breathe, can’t see through the tears and the plastic of the lens of the Spiderman costume, there’s blood on his hands as Aaron stares up at him. His words are chocked with blood and pain and Miles engraves every single word into his mind as he hovers over Aaron helpless, alone, with nothing he can do.

Then he’s gone, his spirit doesn’t just materialize (they usually take a while) and Miles is alone in the alleyway and it’s cold, the kind that numbs everything and makes your breath rough in your chest. His father’s voice strikes like a bell and a hammer relief and fear mixing like a tonic as Miles turns invisible with a pop. He runs, because that’s all he can do because he can’t help the others, he can’t summon his powers on command.

And they know it.

It wells inside Miles as he tries and tries, and nothing happens. He’s helpless, just as he was helpless to stop Pete from dying, and he’s going to be helpless in stopping Peter B. from dying. Pete stares at him with sad eyes, and he must be so disappointed in Miles, who can’t live up, can’t save the world. They leave and he’s alone, even Pete is gone, watching over them for him and its just Miles. Miles who can’t control his powers, who can’t save anyone.

His dad’s words are like water, washing away the ice clinging to his chest, to his mind in fractured pieces. The words are everything he needs to hear and doesn’t know it, and Miles doesn’t feel alone. He doesn’t know if he can do it, but Miles can get up, and he can run, and that’s all you need to be Miles Morales and Spiderman.

X

The roof is cold beneath him as Miles pulls up his mask gasping for breath, his chest is heaving and blood is pounding through his veins, everything feels sharp, clear for the first time in a while. Miles feels alive, so very alive.

“You need to work on your stamina.”

Aaron says with a huff of laughter, he crouches beside Miles on the roof and looks out at the city before them. Miles' heart does a summersault in his chest and then two cold and intangible arms wrap around Miles, but they’re warm in a different way.

A hand ruffles the top of his mask and Miles knows they can talk later, maybe his uncle can try to explain everything. But right now, he’s looking at him with those eyes that are all encouragement and it’s all Miles needs to keep going. To keep running.

Inside, the Collider is a burst of colour and parts, Miles can see the grey everywhere, coiling around everything like static it’s unsettling and so very wrong even if it’s kind of beautiful. The others welcome him, they fight together, they’re a team and Miles feels welcomed like he’s part of something as he fights with Gwen and Peter B. it’s freeing and it’s exhilarating. It’s right.

Then it’s time for them to go home, it hurts and some part of him wants them to stay, to listen to their advice, to fight with them. But the rest of him, that part of him that listened to his mom’s stories and thought he would do good with his gift, knows they need to go home. And when it’s just Peter B. and Miles left, he grins at the man who helped him, who gave him a chance and that’s all it takes for Peter B. to understand, to go home.

Then it’s him and King Pin, Miles is terrified, but he’s not going to let his world, his home collapse. Pete is in the subway car, he’s silent but he’s there (okay he’s mostly silent he kind of narrates the battle) and Miles can do this. No matter how many times he has to get up, how far he has to run.

It hurts and everything is collapsing around him, Pete is on his left telling him he can get up and his dad (why is he here) is there in the distance and Miles gets up, his uncle’s behind King Pin and he’s grinning, and Miles knows what to do.

Then it’s all over, Miles listens to his dad and can’t stop himself, he ends the call and hugs his dad, it’s embarrassing and good and everything he needs.

X

Miles stands and looks out over Brooklyn, Pete is staring at the stars musing on the probability of a villain attack on the nearby bank, his uncle’s arguing with him about the fact that there’s a gallery or something with rare jewels. The watch Gwen gave to him is tight on his wrist and the air’s cold, but Miles knows his mom’s waiting for him with hot chocolate and his dad is going to look at his sketches and smile. Miles grins and leaps of the building, he breaks into a run and keeps going. He’s ready.

X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! This was super interesting to write as I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit. I have at least two more chapters planned for this fic so, hopefully, everything will turn out. Reviews/comments are always appreciated, till next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, we are here with another chapter! I want to thank you all so much for the support on the last chapter, y’all are amazing! This chapter delves more into the other Spider-people and their interactions with Miles. I hope you all enjoy, read on!
> 
>  
> 
> Into the Spiderverse is the property of Marvel and Sony

X

Peter B. is the first to notice it, partly because he meets Miles first and gets to know him the best. But it’s hard to ignore. Miles walks with his head above the clouds and way out into outer space, he dodges around thin air, tilts his head at empty park benches, and says random words out loud. It doesn’t really stand out till they’re in the dinner (which Peter fricking loves), he’s listening to the kid’s plea for help, and part of Peter does want to help, he’s tired in all the wrong ways, but Miles is young and needs help.

It's about then he notices the glances. Miles keeps turning to the empty space beside him, his expression shifts, it’s confused, it’s angry, annoyed and hopeful and Peter doesn’t quite understand. He thinks maybe the kid’s not neurotypical, that’s cool, Peter sure as hell isn’t either. It’s not an explanation. 

Breaking into Alchemax is interesting, filled with a sort of twisted nostalgia as he crawls through the vents. He feels sort of guilty for leaving the kid behind, but Miles really isn’t ready, on the bus he was a ball of nervous energy, and it’ll be faster if he does this on his own (also the way that Miles stares at something over his shoulder with a sad little smile? Concerning).

That doesn’t stop the kid from appearing anyway. He feels annoyance flare, but it dies a quick death (probably not appropriate) at Miles’ words, he can’t say no when those eyes are staring at him and they’re clear and determined in a way he hasn’t seen from the kid yet. Maybe he’ll be okay.

Miles tries to warn him, Peter isn’t sure how the kid even knows about Doc Oc, maybe Spider-sense (but then why didn’t his work?) but the warning comes a minute too late and their clambering and crashing through the cramped hallways. At one point, without prompting Miles drops the monitor and it just sticks under his skin, after twenty years in the business you pick up on these things. He doesn’t say anything though, he can’t not now.

Meeting Gwen hurts, she’s young and grieving and everything his Gwen could (should) have been. Peter doesn’t falter, and he can’t quite meet her eyes, it’s like a ghost is standing in front of him and it hurts. Miles looks between the two of them and there’s something to his expression like understanding.

Seeing Aunt May again? It’s visceral, ripping, tugging at everything in him in a way that pulls him apart. Miles’ shoulder bumps lightly against his own and the image of standing over her grave beside Uncle Ben’s fades away and her house is the same, but Peter can focus (on the way Miles looks so desperately sad, God the kid had watched him die).

The others are tough, he gets that, but Miles isn’t ready for it, isn’t prepared for the sudden assault of everyone swarming over him, crowding him and Peter can almost feel the kid’s oncoming panic attack in his own chest. He tries to interject but some part of him feels it’s right, Miles needs to understand what being Spiderman is about, you have to get back up again; there’s no choice otherwise.

After Miles leaves, they gather in her living room, it’s familiar oh so familiar and Peter feels like an animal pacing its cage as he stares at his hands and worries over Miles. It’s Gwen who brings it up, curled in an awkward position she turns to him and questions, “Do you notice anything you know kind of strange about Miles?”

“Other than turning invisible?”

Ham retorts and the room’s attention is suddenly focused like a magnifying lens and Peter can only nod and wonder, try to piece together everything. But he comes up empty-handed (he doesn’t notice May in the kitchen watching them with a strange look, none of them do).

It descends into chaos the moment Miles enters the house, his chest is heaving, and he’s scared, and Peter is reminded of how young he is, so fricking young, younger even than when he had started. It aches in a way, that they’re forcing the kid into this lifestyle. But in the end, it is a choice, and they can’t sit still, and watch others die when they have power isn’t that right?

It’s unbearable to tie the kid up and leave him there. Peter’s already made peace with his own death, but seeing the defeat, the helplessness in Miles’ eyes? That hurts more than anything else. He leaves and a cold shiver runs down his spine, like when you enter somewhere even slightly other-worldly (and Peter’s seen some stuff). But he can’t focus on that and they leave.

When Miles appears it’s amazing, it’s fantastic and heart-wrenching and wow Peter realises he totally wants kids. Miles grins down at him, everything about him is so bright and Peter can’t help how proud he is, all hesitation about returning to his universe is wiped away. He falls and prays to God that Miles is okay.

X

Gwen notices it at the school, her spider-sense taps out a happy little beat in their science class when Miles stumbles in and she thinks ‘oh this is it’. He’s cute in the dorky sort of way, he reminds her of Peter, and she shuts down the thought quickly as the teacher passes by them with her ruler stick, instead she focuses on the documentary and wonders at the irony.

There’s word around the school about Miles, he’s a strange kid they say, talks to nothing they say, isn’t all there they say. Gwen doesn’t necessarily believe the gossip, because it is gossip, but it sits at the back of her mind like a particular lyric you can’t get out of your head.

Then he sticks to her, and he’s looking at her with wide panicked eyes and Gwen remembers that feeling, how Peter had been so excited and concerned in the same moment, Miles' eyes flicker over her shoulder and his expression twists further.

Any empathy she feels disappears with half of her hair. And part of her does feel for Miles but she can’t focus on him, she needs to get back to her universe, before she probably dies or whatever the glitching thing is.

Watching the kid walk on the side of the building is moderately hilarious and makes up for it slightly. Gwen turns her thoughts away, she needs to focus, and the documentary in class gave her if not a solution at least an idea.

Seeing Miles and Peter(?) running through the halls of Alchemax is hilarious and sad all at once. Gwen sighs and stills as her Spider-sense blasts like the shred of a guitar and Doc Oc (of this universe) appears and sort of scuttles down the hallway. Okay.

Peter up close is hard. He’s not her Peter (there’s a B.) he’s old, washed out, Spiderman, and he’s tired. But all the same, he reminds her too much, too sharply of the still fresh grief of her Peter. She can’t bring herself to look at him.

The bus is quiet, and Gwen listens to Miles for a few moments as he details everything but eventually, they drift into silence. Miles stares at an empty seat across from them with a confused expression, then he nods, then he grins, and Gwen can kind of understand why everyone at the school thinks he’s a bit strange. It pokes at her, watching Miles stare at nothing and look as if he’s holding a conversation (for one terrible moment she wonders if there’s an invisible Spider-person there).

Gwen dismisses the thought in the rush of going to May’s house and meeting the others. They need to be ready, they need to destroy the Collider, that’s what matters. She volunteers to stay behind, of course, she does, her dad will miss her, but there’s not much else when your best friend is dead.

Miles tries he really does. She can remember being that clumsy (okay not That clumsy) but she had had Peter to test things out with. There’s no time to test things out, they need to be ready, they can’t let King Pin destroy the multiverse. So, they push, they all do.

She feels sorry when they leave Miles in his dorm, but he’s not ready, and it’s better if he doesn’t have to see any of it. She sees his eyes stare at a wall, and she wonders. Her heart feels cold, like a stone in her chest as they get off the bus, because they’re swinging towards Peter B.’s death, and she doesn’t want to witness that, of any Peter, but he wouldn’t let anyone else do it and it hurts. She keeps moving.

Fighting with Miles is exhilarating it’s right and it’s like when you hit the chorus of your favourite song. It’s easy. Gwen doesn’t want to go, back to a world that feels lonely, but at least she has a friend now and more than that she has a family.

It’s a month after the incident, Gwen is in the middle of kicking a rapist in the chest with the full force of her pointe shoes when a portal opens above her head. Gwen stiffens for all of a moment before Peni appears (she’s totally kind of cute) and drops two watches into her hand. Gwen webs the attempted rapist and they have a nice conversation in a brick alleyway and Gwen realises as she breathes a little easier how much she’s missed the others.

Peni is a genius and Gwen didn’t realise it before, but she can talk about high school level science with ease. Mostly, they talk about music, cute animals, what it’s like trying to fight as a girl when no one will take you seriously. It’s nice.

She opens a portal to Miles’ dimension in the same night, some part of her is shaky with nerves and for a moment she wonders if it’s going to work. It does and she can see Miles squished into the corner of his bed, he’s talking, out loud, and when Gwen peers around she can’t see anyone. It’s strange and she remembers the gossip from the students at Miles’ school even as he notices her.

They talk and talk for hours and Gwen feels like she’s home, like she could dance for hours on her pointe shoes and feel nothing. Miles grins up at her with those eyes, all warm and the kind that sort of glow from inside (she’s proud of how far he’s come) and she’s not alone.

X

This universe is strange, it blinds Peter with the explosion of colours that whirl around him in dizzying speed, it’s all so fast that he feels as if he can’t breathe as if the world is falling to pieces around him. Something honks in the distance, and it’s familiar in a way that everything is not. Peter shudders and draws his coat closer to his shoulders as the wind, a foul sort of wind, whips through the air.

Something hurtles out of the darkness and Peter’s Spider-sense clinks like two glasses, he glances up and then glances down. He feels his life can’t possibly be stranger, but he doesn’t tempt fate by voicing the thought out loud. The pig(?) is wearing a Spiderman suit and his voice is somewhat familiar.

Everything slips from there, the sort of rolling motion of sliding on ice in the cool grime of winter, he meets the little one with the large mechanical device (why a child so young he cannot understand) and they collectively decide to meet up with the matron of this universe’s Spiderman.

Aunt May is welcoming and kind, she gives them warm drinks and lets them sit in her kitchen for a while in the hum of a different Brooklyn. It’s safe, safe enough for Peter to slip his mask over his nose to drink the tea and listen to the other’s stories and tell his own in kind. There’s an urgency in the back of his mind, it rings of how dangerous this Collider, this device to cross universes is, and how they need to stop it.

The others arrive later, with the necessary information (and maybe he’s a touch dramatic), Peter stares at this other Peter, they are alike and different but both tired, both matches that have fizzled out a while ago. Then there’s Miles, the kid, like Peni, like Gwen, is a riot of colour and movement and he can tell there’s something different about the kid, something almost like his world, Peter can’t quite grasp it, so he dismisses the lingering glances on nothing and focuses on his abilities. But it’s not enough.

He feels sorry for the kid, remembers his own failures, but they all have their own battles to fight. Peter doesn’t want the other Peter to die, part of him doesn’t want to leave after the sudden kinship he’s found, the acceptance like his vague memories of family. But he also doesn’t want to die and that’s probably more important.

The fight half blinds Peter, everything is bright and crackles like lightning, he sees Peni helpless with the Scorpion hanging over her and he’s there before he can think about it. Ham is beside him and perched on his shoulder in the next moment a warm presence that makes him grin beneath his mask.

Saying goodbye is hard, these people they’re like family, and it’s strange and wonderful and Peter doesn’t quite understand the warmth in his chest but it’s the truth nonetheless, the burning sort of truth like sunlight that spills out regardless.

He returns home.

Receiving the ability to travel to the others’ universes feels like the moment of free fall from a building. He goes to Ham’s universe once and promises never again but visiting the other’s is easier, the colours are everywhere and they’re almost blinding, but Peter has always been a bit of a masochist.

He patrols with Miles one night, the kid is bright, brighter than before, he moves and swings like life itself and Peter feels proud of how far he’s come and listens with a smile as Miles tells him which colour is which, he goes on to explain the colour wheel, warm and cold colours, and it all sort of fades into the background as Peter wonders at how light his chest feels.

They stop at a park bench; a vendor had shoved a tray of fries into Miles' hand and they’re warm and greasy in the slightly chill air. They’re quiet for a while and Miles observes the shades around him, the blue, the purple, and all the other colours belonging there.

He turns to question Miles about the colour of a street lamp nearby but pauses as the kid talks to thin air, he shrugs and grins, quirks a brow and nods. Vaguely Peter recalls the other Peter mentioning something about this, but it doesn’t sit uneasily with him. The mystic stuff is something to be wary of, but Miles is a good kid. He notices and grins at Peter, tells him there’s a bank robbery on the other side of town (his Spider-sense is silent).

They spring into action, flying through the air and Peter feels something, anything and everything.

X

Peter takes the new universe in stride as with everything. He crashes into the pavement and little cartoon birds float dizzily above his head, he bats them away with a twitch of his eye and stares at the world around him. It’s so utterly different to his own world, so solid for lack of a better word. There are what he guesses are humans (wow) and the buildings are sharp, and the cars don’t puff out plumes of smoke. He kind of likes it and hates it at the same time.

Meeting the others is like that moment when you peel yourself off the concrete, it’s relief, and popping back into form after being pressed into nothing. Peter can’t really say that he’s noticed how tiring it can be to live in a cartoon dimension (it’s apparent now though), but it’s also the understanding, the companionship.

Noir is so different, Peni is so alive and so smart, Peter B. is exhausted, but he’s got a heart of gold, Gwen is a queen, and Miles? The kid’s got the sort of potential Peter likes. He likes them all and it’s a warm feeling.

Peter notices something off about Miles after the whole Collider thing is said and done with, and Peni (the absolute genius) finds a way for them to travel between dimensions. He’s visiting Aunt May, because the woman’s casserole is amazing, and Miles is in the kitchen. He doesn’t even notice Peter, the kid’s the kind with his head in the clouds (literally he can sort of see them hovering there) and he’s talking to thin air. Not even like Aunt May thin air, just thin air.

Miles startles and his soul kind of departs his body, which okay that’s new when he sees Peter, but he settles and grins at him and Peter pushes it to the side to discuss with the others. If the kid is haunted, they should probably be concerned.

But then Noir arrives with Peni in tow and they crowd on the couch to watch cartoons (which he provides satirical commentary for of course) and the two kids squirrel off into the corner to look at Miles’ art and Peni’s mech designs. It settles a warm feeling in Peter’s chest, and he leans his head against Noir with a content sigh.

X

Peni is the first to put the pieces together and actually make a hypothesis. She enters Miles’ universe in her mech, shorted out and scared until Noir finds her and Ham’s there with him, and they find Aunt May. The world spins around her and Peni accepts it and moves on, she can worry about returning to her own universe later, there is a Collider that needs to be dealt with first.

Meeting the others is an experience that resonates somewhere deep inside her, it reminds Peni of the warmth of her father’s arms around her, of sitting in the lab over her homework with music playing quietly in the background; it is home and it is acceptance.

Miles is young like her, he’s a bit older, but he doesn’t have experience. She remembers the confusion, the panic, everything that was so overwhelming when her parents died and she gained her telepathic link with Sp//dr. Miles tries, and she can see him stare at nothing and can hear him question something softly, but Peni can’t stop the questions from pouring out. Because Spiderman has to keep getting up, has to save the world.

After everything is said and done Peni sits in the lab in her universe and feels alone. She doesn’t like it, absolutely utterly hates it. It reminds her of Scorpion standing over her and she’s there helpless. And because Peni is who she is, she fixes that.

It takes a month to figure everything out, how to stop their atoms from basically decomposing, how to actually cross the line between universe without destroying the balance of the whole entire multiverse, how to fit all into something portable. She spends a lot of nights staring at the lines of code or hovering over a welding table with chemicals bubbling softly in the background.

When it’s finished the first universe, she visits is Noir’s, she can’t really explain why but that’s the coordinates she types. After hugging the other Spider, it’s a whirlwind of jumping to different universes to pass off the watches, by the time she’s jumping to Gwen’s universe (who is so cool, she fights on pointe shoes and is in a band!) she needs to recharge the watch and it’s easier to just drop Miles watch with her. There’s time now and a way to see her family.

After that it’s easier, she fixes her mech, visits the others, watches old Sunday morning cartoons at Aunt May’s, listens to music with Gwen, and draws with Miles. Miles who sometimes randomly talks to thin air, or when he suddenly breaks into a sprint to talk to someone who doesn’t know him, or that time they went to a flower store and bought nothing. It’s weird and Peni is naturally curious.

They’re all sitting in May’s house, the Lizard decided to make an appearance and Miles called for backup (and yeah, she could kind of see why Miles’ Lizard was seriously scary). Miles is actually at his home; his parents had called, and they shove him off with smiles and tell him to not put weight on the sprained ankle for at least a few hours. It’s warm in the living room, Peni scrolls through her computer and analyses the recent data Sp//dr picked up from the fight, she swings her legs on the edge of the couch and leans her head on Gwen’s shoulder to listen to the faint music from her phone (it’s old and it’s good).

“So, does anyone else notice something odd about Miles? And I don’t mean the spray-paint because that’s more of a personal choice you know?”

Ham says from where he’s sprawled over Noir’s lap. Peter B. puts his phone down and they all sort of tune in their attention even though they’re all sort of exhausted. Gwen nods and says, “He’s always talking to nothing.”

“He looks at empty spaces a lot.”

“He knows things before our Spider-sense can even sense it.”

“Yeah and Miles talks to random strangers all the time.”

It all comes together, stories spilling out between them of Miles’ being just a slight bit strange. They’re not suspicious, they’re concerned, Peter B. suggests something related to the mystical arts, Ham suggests a haunting, Noir is quiet, but he does agree that there’s something, Gwen has that suspicious look on her face, and Peni isn’t quite certain what to believe about Miles. But it’s Miles and she wants him to be okay.

They decide to ask him, that’s really the only solution. But later, for now, Peni curls deeper into Gwen’s side and listens to Peter B. and Noir discuss fascism with equal parts disgust and hate. Aunt May is humming in the kitchen and Ham is mumbling in his sleep. It’s her family and Peni isn’t alone anymore.

X

Miles is tense, he’s nervous, he’s curled into the armchair and he stares at the others forming a semi-circle around him. They’re all staring at him and it’s quiet, the heavy kind of silence and Miles glances around the room until he finds Pete, who flips him a thumbs up, it’s not helpful but it settles something in his chest. Miles sighs, forces his body to relax, to look at the others.

They’ve noticed that Miles talks to thin air and every other little weird thing he does when he interacts with spirits. And granted, Miles wasn’t really trying to hide it, he just hadn’t really considered that they would question him about it. No one else had.

It’s his choice whether to tell them the truth, they’re concerned (they think he’s haunted?!), but if he tells them it’s nothing they probably won’t push. But Miles trusts them, they’re family and they deserve to know.

“I-I uh see spirits?”

Miles says and the words come out shaky but there’s a weight off his chest with the words hanging on the air. They stare, expressions of surprise kind of dart across their features and Ham questions, “What like ghosts?”

“Yeah… it’s a curse that’s been in my family for a while.”

“And you’re okay with it?”

Peter B. asks concerned, and he realises that if they thought he was truly cursed they would do anything to help him, it makes Miles’ breath catch in his chest and he nods unable to speak over the warmth saturating veins.

Eventually, he can respond.

“It’s not really a curse. I choose to treat it as a gift. It’s always allowed me to help people, whether that’s telling someone’s family their last words, or just preventing an accident in the making. And it’s not all bad…”

Miles trails off with his shrug and his eyes dart to his uncle, who has perched himself on the armrest of the chair, his hand ruffles through Miles’ hair and he grins at him all proud-like. Pete across the room pouts at Aaron but smiles at Miles and it feels okay.

“Who are you looking at right now?”

Peni asks softly, looking at him with those wide eyes (and she’s totally like a little sister to him, wow realisations). Anxiety sparks softly, like static electricity, and he’s unsure how to move forward, how to tell them he’s been hanging with a dead Spiderman. Right, tell the truth.

“Uh, my Uncle Aaron and the Peter from this universe?”

They stare, and oh god they’re probably horrified, aren’t they? But Noir smiles, and his mask is tugged over his lips, and he says, “I’m glad you have someone watching over you kid.”

The sentiment is echoed and Miles stares at them all in surprise, Pete nudges his shoulder and Miles turns to him and reads the words on his lips with a quirk of his lips. Back to his job as a translator between life and death.

“Peter says thanks for helping me when he couldn’t.”

The words sink into the air for a moment and then Miles squeaks when Peter B. wraps him up in a hug, but it’s nice and warm and Miles knows that if Pete could he would hug him like this. Peter B. sets him down and grins at Miles’ with a wink before he settles down.

Gwen who has been quiet for most of the conversation tilts her head at Miles, and he can almost feel the weight of the next question as she asks, “Can you see ghosts from other dimensions?”

“Only when I’m in your dimensions, but yeah. When I first met you all though, I think some spirits were hanging around they just couldn’t materialize properly. But uh, if you guys ever want me to talk to someone and communicate…?”

Gwen has her hand over her mouth, and Miles can understand why, and he suddenly and very desperately wants to help his friend communicate with the Peter of her universe. There’s a strange mix of hope and grief in the room because they’ve all lost someone and its sort of terrifying to think you can talk to them again. And Miles isn’t quite certain how to feel, he’s happy they accepted him with few questions, but he doesn’t want to hurt his friends.

“Thanks, Miles.”

Peter B. says and the words are earnest, and the others nod, and they stare at him with something different in their eyes. Miles just nods because this is his family as much as his mom and dad and he would help them with anything. Ham mumbles something about witch doctors and Peni cuts in to argue that it’s more like Kerri. Miles is lost but he loves it and as he gazes around the room, at his family (alive and dead), Miles knows he’s not alone.

X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was pretty interesting to get into the different mindset of all the different characters. Also, I’m sorry Ham had such a short part, but I kind of had no idea what to write for him. I have one more chapter planned, which will focus more on Miles after the movie and his family. Reviews/comments are always appreciated, till next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, we are here with the last chapter in this fic. A huge thank you to everyone who commented, you made writing this fic fun! So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, read on!
> 
>  
> 
> Into the Spiderverse is the property of Marvel and Sony

X

Rio has always loved Miles, from the moment she first held him in her arms, loved his smile, how she can see Jeff in his nose and his ears and a bit of herself too, his creativity, his kindness, she loves everything about her son, even his ability to see spirits. She had hoped that he wouldn’t get the curse, but there’s nothing to do once she notices the wandering gaze, the head above the clouds, and the conversation with her (deceased) father at the breakfast table.

Miles is good though, really truly good and when she tells him about it, he promises to do good, and that’s all she can ask for.

After everything with Spiderman (and the other Spider-people) is over, Rio notices a difference in her son’s life, a difference in Miles. It’s a collection of little and big things that click together one day when she’s folding the laundry. It’s not hard to miss when Rio has known Miles all his life, and also her son is not a good liar.

She says hello to Aaron as he follows Miles home, they’ve never been particularly close, but Rio respects his relationship with Miles and some part of her is happy to see him watching over Miles. Later, Rio leans against his doorway, listens to him speak to a spirit about the city, when she peeks through the doorway she pauses in shock because sitting in the desk chair is Peter Parker, half transparent in the sunlight and still cloaked in his suit.

Rio leans away from the door and pauses with her fingers on the bridge of her nose, she wonders how they even know each other. It brings to mind that night after the earthquake. Miles had been so scared, all wide eyes and harsh breaths, and she wonders. She’s a mother, of course, she wonders.

Sometimes, her son isn’t in his bed, it’s three in the morning and she returns from an early shift (or late depending on perspective) and his bed will be empty. Her son eats more, part of Rio idly contemplates it being puberty, but regardless her son can eat and eat with barely a breath in between. There are calls from the school about Miles skipping class or not being in her dorm room and it concerns her and Jeff. He has bruises, he limps down the hallway, or flinches sometimes when she rests a hand on his shoulder, that’s what worries her the most.

She corners Aaron one evening, plants her hands on her hips and stares hard into the man’s eyes. He swallows and Rio idly thinks her son’s gift is likely stronger than her, he could probably do so much more. She’s lucky if a spirit talks to her for more than five minutes, Miles has full on conversations. She doesn’t mention it because he has enough on his plate.

“I know something is going on with Miles, now you can tell me before he gets hurt and I have to find out when you can do nothing because you’re a ghost. Or you can tell me.”

Aaron grimaces and shakes his head, he opens his mouth to speak but thinks better of it and with an apologetic grin (that isn’t very apologetic) dematerialises. Rio curses and slides down the wall and places her head in her hands, she doesn’t want to think about it, want to think it might be true. That her son is out there every night saving people but fighting against people twice his age with way more experience, with guns.

Rio doesn’t talk to Jeff about it, she wants to be sure. But she knows her husband has his own suspicions. They’re on the same page regardless. They both don’t want to be right.

She does the laundry, tries to wash away the moans of a ghost when they can’t save her husband and the little girl who watches over everyone and doesn’t quite understand. It’s the morning or it’s the evening and she can’t quite tell but she does the laundry.

That’s when she sees the suit, it’s folded underneath a pile of clothing, but the black is stark against pale grey and baby blue. With her hands shaking she pulls out the suit, it’s small in her hands and just Miles’ size.

Aaron leans against the doorway with an apology slumped throughout his form. Rio has a moment to decide, whether she lets Miles know she knows, or to wait for her son to tell her. Rio folds the suit and slips it carefully into the laundry pile where it won’t be seen.

Rio trusts her son, and she trusts Aaron and even Peter Parker. If he’s in danger, he won’t be alone.

X

Miles dodges under the punch, it cuts through the air above his head and he drops to the ground and swings his leg out, it passes through Peter’s leg, but he mimics dropping to the ground. He flips into the air and is back on his feet a moment later, his breath heaves out of his chest and he offers a hand to Peter who grins at him and stands up.

“That was good Miles, though you need less dramatics, you don’t need to flip so don’t.”

“I personally think a bit of flare is a very good idea.”

“Oh yeah and how did that help when I punched you mid-flip huh?”

“Hmm hard to say but I still think the flare can strike fear into the hearts of one’s enemies.”

Miles listens to the two squabble and argue as he grabs his water bottle and a snack Aunt May had left for him (stay hydrated dear, I don’t know how many times Peter forgot to eat) and plops onto the floor to listen to them.

Having Peter and Aaron to help mentor him is nice, they tell him when his form is off, what’s the best way to disarm a guy with a gun, how criminals think, and all the rest. It’s nice, even though they argue a lot. He just kind of wishes he had someone to train with physically, he can’t learn how to control his strength when you’re fighting against air, and it’s hard to correct your stance when they keep yelling, “To you left, adjust your right. No, no your other right.”

And so, on and so forth.

Peter’s hand swings into view and with a sigh Miles grasps (not really) it and pulls himself to his feet shaking off the chill that seeps into his skin anytime he touches a spirit. He drops into a stance and Peter charges, he blocks punches and dodges under blows, his spider-sense doesn’t really work on ghosts so it’s all instinct and trying to read ahead (or at least that’s what his uncle says).

Miles ducks to the side of an uppercut and swings a roundhouse kick into Peter’s side, his leg passes through Peter with a shiver of pins and needles, but he can’t focus on that and is forced to duck under a punch, he tries to reverse the manoeuvre and grasps Peter’s arm prepared to flip him over his shoulder.

Except, Miles’ hand doesn’t pass through Peter’s it’s solid beneath his hand, cold like ice but solid. He takes a step back and Peter’s next punch passes through his head, it’s disorienting but not as much as the fact that he just held Peter’s arm(!) it shouldn’t even be possible.

“Everything okay?”

Peter asks and he’s staring at Miles with concerned blue eyes, for a moment Miles can’t respond, can’t even really think. Eventually, he nods because maybe he’s just tired, he probably just imagined it. If it happens again then Miles will be concerned.

He settles into a stance across from Peter and with a nod he springs forward. He throws a flip in for good measure.

X

The supervillain is almost comical, with a great sweeping black cloak patterned with indistinct grey blobs and a sort of invisible man vibe going on. Miles flips onto the pavement across from the dude and waits for the monologue, there’s always a monologue. New York moves around him, uncaring of the supervillain in their midst; it’s typical.

“So, who are you?”

Miles questions and the dude whips around (his cape totally does a cool flare thing) and stares at him before with a strike of a dramatic pose he says, “I am the Operator, I commune with the spirits of the dead and they obey my wishes. Together we shall conquer the city and bring a new age of the undead!”

“Okay but like where are your spirits? I’m not seeing any.”

Miles asks peering around the street, there’s a ghost staring at a display of chocolate with a forlorn look, and that’s about it, not even Peter or Aaron are nearby, they’re off doing whatever ghosts do.

The Operator (man what kind of name is that?) pauses to stare down at him, which is kind of rude and squints at him before he says, “Fool minded child, not anyone can see the spirits of the undead. Watch now as I summon them.”

Miles crosses his arms and waits, a wind blows through the air, it’s a bit gusty. Is that all? Miles glances around, nothing, not even a particularly bad-tempered spirit. Shrugging he stares at the villain who is in the middle of an evil villain laugh™ and replied, “Dude there’s nothing, I mean like can you even see spirits? The most I’m guessing here is like wind manipulation.”

The Operator’s arms slide down from their dramatic positioning and Miles has a moment to think he should probably listen to his uncle’s advice about Not antagonizing his future opponent. Oh well.

The fight ends quickly, Miles was right he did have wind manipulation, but his ability to stick to things (on command!) sort of countered that. The police load the Operator into the van and Miles waves at the villain as the doors slam shut.

Miles turns and his dad is there, crap with a serving of double crap. Miles panics for a moment but he feels a tap on top of his head, and he responds in a deep voice, “Hello officer.”

“Man, the villains in this city just keep getting stranger. Is it something in the air?”

His dad says conversationally as the van drives off, Miles chokes out a laugh and wonders how this is his life as he responds, “Must be.”

“So, this guy? Said he could see spirits?”

The question comes suddenly and Miles silently thanks Aaron standing behind him like a wall of support and nods. His dad probably needs to write a report so it’s only logical to ask questions, right?

“I have a son who sees spirits. Doubt this guy could see a dead ladybug if he wanted to.”

His dad jokes, and okay this has officially become one of the weirdest days of his life. Miles snorts anyways only to pause as his Spider-sense hums at the back of his mind, coughing Miles says, “Have to go, officer, crime to stop, webs to spin. Later!”

Before his dad can reply Miles swings into the air, as he lets gravity pull him down and away, he can’t help the absurd the laughter that spills through the air. Miles life is strange and weird, and he loves it.

X

Gwen is sitting on her bed (her room is a clashing mix of soft colours and sharp lines, it’s cool), she’s tapping a drumstick against her thigh and studying the comforter with a determined air. Miles squishes himself further into the desk chair uncomfortable and nervous, unsure of how to proceed.

He can see Peter, her Peter, young, with floppy hair and he looks like a teenager, looks their age. It hurts, seeing another Peter’s ghost, he has to wonder how many universes there are where Peter dies, or someone he loves dies (like Gwen). Peter is also uncomfortable shifting where he hovers by the door, he looks like he’s going to fade through the archway at any moment.

Gwen glances at Miles, her expression is all sharp lines, but it softens slightly when she sees him. With a huff she rises from her bed, crosses over to a stereo and presses play, music fills the room, it’s filled with guitars and drums but it’s not heavy or too loud. Miles is pretty sure they don’t have that band in his universe.

“They used to be our favourite.”

She says and the words are like stones sinking into his gut. This is bad, Miles thinks, but not as bad as communicating with Peni’s dead father or trying to communicate with all the people Noir has lost (so many, too many).

“We used to sit on the roof and drink milkshakes from the corner store listening to them.”

Peter says, and it’s the first thing Miles has heard him say, he relates the words to Gwen slowly and quietly. Her gaze whips around the room but she can’t see Peter and eventually her gaze centres on Miles.

“Can you tell him… I’m sorry, it was my fault that every-everything happened.”

The words are shaky and hesitant. Miles nods and turns to Peter, he’s frowning, and the expression is familiar but also different from the Peter(s) he knows. Peter drifts across the room until he’s seated beside Gwen, she can’t feel it.

“It’s not your fault. I-I was jealous of you Gwen, of everything you had, how perfect you were. It was my choice. You saved me.”

Peter says and Miles repeats the words, they’re heavy on his tongue, lingering behind his teeth and he can’t quite look into her eyes.

“I killed you!”

Gwen protests and she’s crying and her voice breaks on the second word. Miles feels frozen, stuck in the chair, unable to move, only able to watch as his friend cries in front of him. This is always the words part, he can do this for strangers, it’s easier when you don’t know them. But his family? Miles takes a breath and moves onto the bed, slinging an arm around her shoulder. They’re his family, he has to help them. If there is any possible way to help them he will.

“No! I was the one who made that choice. Don’t you ever think you killed me, Gwen Stacy.”

The words are sharp, and she flinches, her hand slips into Miles with an iron grip and he lets her, strokes his thumb gently over her hand. She hiccups and angrily wipes away the tears trailing down her cheeks.

“But…but I...”

Peter places his hands on her cheeks, and her eyes widen as the words hit the air like a sledgehammer, “I don’t blame you.”

For a second, Peter is tangible, faint in the light but there, oh so there. Then he’s gone. Gwen turns her face into Miles’ shoulder and cries, he wraps his arms around his friend and lets her sob, he runs a hand in circles on her back and hums somewhere in his chest.

Later, in between that time that you can’t quantify that slips one way or the other, Gwen pulls back and looks at Miles. Her hands brush lightly over his cheeks and she says softly, “Thanks. I think… I think Peter would be happy that you’re my friend Miles.”

He blushes and nods because that’s all he can do at the words, the words that he’ll probably replay in his mind for the rest of the night. Gwen laughs (supposedly at his face) and flicks him on the forehead with a fond, “Dork.”

Miles just grins and replied, “Yeah, yeah that’s totally not a chemistry poster on your wall.”

She laughs and everything is good again.

X

Miles lands on the top of a building with a roof entrance, it’s stubby sort of building with old red brick, he pants for a moment and catches his breath, looks around him and listens to the unconcerned thrum of his Spider-sense. With a sigh, Miles plops on the ledge of the building and swings his legs out, he looks at Brooklyn spread out below him and feels speechless, it always makes the words catch in his throat. That’s the city he protects, and it’s gorgeous.

“What’s that kiddo?”

Peter questions standing behind Miles, he turns and sees that Peter’s pointing at a brightly coloured lunch bag(?) nestled against the wall. Miles listens to his Spider-sense and when nothing shrills in warning, he picks up the lunch bag. It’s Spiderman, the kind you can find in any grocery store now for a few bucks, red and blue with the emblem in the centre. Miles traces his finger over the spider for a moment before he opens the lunch bag; to check who it belongs to of course.

There’s a note on the inside and it reads, “To the new Spidey: stay hydrated!”

Miles quirks a brow but tucks the note aside, inside the lunch bag is a juice box and an apple. No. No way is Miles eating the juice box (the same brand his mom buys). He turns to Peter who looks at the interior of the lunch bag with wide eyes, he says idly, “Huh that’s different, usually they throw food at me. Must be because you’re so small.”

Miles pouts, he is not small, he is a perfectly normal size for his age (which is the problem). He lifts the juice box up with a shrug in question and turns to Peter who says, “Go ahead. They’re right, whoever they are, with our metabolism, snacks are never a bad idea.”

“It could be poisoned.”

Miles’ uncle interjects with a raised brow, but his voice suggests that he doesn’t really believe that. Miles opens the juice box (he has no trouble whatsoever with the straw) and sips at the juice, it’s sweet and it quenches a thirst he doesn’t know he’s been harbouring. He wonders if there are other lunch bags scattered on fire escapes and balconies. The thought warms his chest.

A ghost drifts from the fire exit, they’re wearing a costume of some kind, like something from a musical, all sweeping sleeves and tight pants, there’s even a mask. Miles puts the juice box down and tugs his mask back on as he walks towards the ghost.

“There is a robbery on 42nd, they have guns with alien technology.”

The ghost informs him with a nod, his eyes stare at Miles for a long moment before he fades away. Miles smiles in thanks, he can feel his Spider-sense beginning to act up at the back of his mind.

“Ready to go kiddo?”

“No lasers in the back this time alright?”

Aaron and Peter say as Miles stand on the ledge and adjusts his web-shooters. He slaps a sticker on a nearby vent and with a grin at the two of them he steps off the ledge. For a moment, there’s just the fall, gravity rushing past him, pulling at his body. Miles whoops and fires a web arcing into a swing that throws him up into the air. Brooklyn spreads out before him and Miles laughs as he makes his way to the bank.

X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! This fic was super fun to write and I really enjoyed exploring this AU. A huge thank you to everyone who commented, y’all are amazing!! I know some people wanted to see more of this fic, but for now, this is all I can really write for this AU. If I ever get an idea, I’ll write another chapter. But for now, it’s finished. Thank you all for reading, reviews/comments are always appreciated!


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